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floating thumb techniqe
- Thread starter Torvus
- Start date
I think so. Over the years (been floating my thumb since mid '80s) I am less fussy over resting on the adjacent string unless I am playing free strokes (Tirando). If playing for example rest strokes (Apoyando) on the G string I won't always mute D with the thumb - rather it will be muted by the plucking fingers coming to rest there combined with perhaps some left hand muting. But it is a very flexible technique with no hard and fast rules. The pressure can be varied over a wide range to get just the right balance between muting, feeling the tactile reference and noise-free movement. The position over the strings can be easily modified to change the angle of attack in the pluck.
But back to your question - yes it is important to develop an intuitive feel for the position of the thumb/hand over the strings. and referencing landmarks on your thumb is a solid approach. In time you will find you are able to totally disconnect and reconnect with perfect location, but for now just work on getting to know your own tactile reference points. In is also important to keep the bass in a constant relationship with your body and shoulders, so don't keep experiementing with different strap lengths - find the right length and stick with it.
I have always rested my thumb on the center pickup edge and moved when I needed to travel to higher strings then came back to rest on the pick up edge. Works great for a home base I have short fat fingers,comfort is most important to wart off frustration.Do what feels good to you.I also play short scale basses,Very easy on the hands and brain.No compromise on sound at All,my amp takes care of any adjustment needed.
Thanks (all) for the feedback and information.
I got up refreshed early this AM; house quiet; practiced my right hand (no amp); suddenly realized that my touch was much lighter than it has been; not just my plucking fingers but everything; my hand was lighter across he bass, my fingers were looser and lighter gliding across the strings, and plucking was lighter; moving up/down (across the 4 strings) was smoother, lighter; it just happened. I also realized that my “lump counting” (even once subconscious) as an indexing mechanism won’t be adequate for playing but is more an initial means to the ends of developing the broader, more generalized tactile feedback to which SteveCS alluded. So, I’ll continue doing these short, frequent, quiet practices.
For the immediate future I would continue with the deliberate approach. It is a bit like young string players learning the spatial relationships between their bow arm and the instrument. They use simple long strokes until they intuitively know where the ends are. They play on the same part of the string until they know how that feels under the bow, then they start to move between bridge and fingerboard, again feeling how the string tightness changes between bridge and fingerboard and by listening to timbre changes. Watch a good cellist on YouTube and how the bow arm is not anchored or fixed to anything other than the player's shoulder! The floating thumb offers a similar levels of freedom in your right hand as you break free from the anchored positions.
I'll definitely continue with this deliberate approach but it was just interesting to realize that it's just a learning tool and part of the evolution to the more organic capability you note. It's much like learning slide positions when I started the first of my six years of trombone back in 7th grade.
I appreciate the tips and perspective.
I can't speak for anyone else but it is not uncommon for my right hand to have no contact with anything other than the finger on the string when making a note - the whole hand is 'floating in the air'.
Oh, me too -- especially when playing the E (and often A when using rest strokes) string where I don't need my thumb to mute anything. I love that relaxed feeling of my hand floating in the air and my fingers gently brushing across the string: It feels so relaxed and free. I mainly use the floating thumb when playing the D and G strings (and sometimes A).
The comment you quoted was intended for anyone who thinks that the "floating thumb" refers to having your thumb "floating in the air" all the time.
I've been starting to do the same thing (trying to lessen the amount my right hand is moving around), but I'm noticing the D string very lightly sounding out when my finger comes to rest on it after plucking the G string. Weirdly, it only happens when I play over the bridge pickup, so I'm wondering if maybe it's an issue with my bass. I've been dealing with it by fretting notes on G with the pad of my finger and using the tip of my left index finger to mute the D string, but a lot of bass instruction says to use your fingertips to fret notes, so I'm wondering if this attempt at changing my right hand technique is making my left hand technique worse.
Floating thumb and anchored ring finger technique? 
Warning: Long technique realisation ahead. Maybe others are in the same boat, so I figured I'd post it.
If anyone has any tips or experiences, I'd love to hear them.
Ok, so I thought I had fixed my technique. My thumb was floating, my hand moved freely, and everything felt great.
However... I learned floating thumb because I needed to get away from anchoring on the pickup when I moved to 5-strings. So I did, and everything was mostly cool.
I did notice that I had a little bit of trouble staying on the B string for extended periods (not just jumping down to it and back up), but I did that rarely enough that I never really thought much about it.
Then I got a 4-string, and I found that I simply couldn't play it. Well, not in any way that felt comfortable, at least. I was now staying on the bottom string a lot more than on my fivers, and it was surprisingly hard.
So I finally started taking a closer look at my technique. Sure enough, my thumb is floating, but I never noticed that my ring finger permanently touches a string at all times (usually the B string, sometimes jumping down to the E). Just barely, just enough to give me a feeling of stability or something. So obviously, whenever I play the bottom string, my ring finger has to let go and I suddenly feel... Unbalanced? Unstable? Not sure, but it definitely doesn't feel as comfortable.
So now I'm back at it, once again working on right hand technique, trying to break established habits, and it sucks. But hey, it's all about the journey, right?
Here's a video that really shows it off. As you can see, my ring finger always touches a string all the way through the song.
Warning: Long technique realisation ahead. Maybe others are in the same boat, so I figured I'd post it.
If anyone has any tips or experiences, I'd love to hear them.
Ok, so I thought I had fixed my technique. My thumb was floating, my hand moved freely, and everything felt great.
However... I learned floating thumb because I needed to get away from anchoring on the pickup when I moved to 5-strings. So I did, and everything was mostly cool.
I did notice that I had a little bit of trouble staying on the B string for extended periods (not just jumping down to it and back up), but I did that rarely enough that I never really thought much about it.
Then I got a 4-string, and I found that I simply couldn't play it. Well, not in any way that felt comfortable, at least. I was now staying on the bottom string a lot more than on my fivers, and it was surprisingly hard.
So I finally started taking a closer look at my technique. Sure enough, my thumb is floating, but I never noticed that my ring finger permanently touches a string at all times (usually the B string, sometimes jumping down to the E). Just barely, just enough to give me a feeling of stability or something. So obviously, whenever I play the bottom string, my ring finger has to let go and I suddenly feel... Unbalanced? Unstable? Not sure, but it definitely doesn't feel as comfortable.
So now I'm back at it, once again working on right hand technique, trying to break established habits, and it sucks. But hey, it's all about the journey, right?
Here's a video that really shows it off. As you can see, my ring finger always touches a string all the way through the song.
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Is floating thumb (which is how I play) intrinsically as quick in moving from string to string as anchoring on the PU/E-String?
I watched some videos of PU/E-String anchor players today and they shifted from string to string very quickly; it was pretty impressive and it looked like less arm & hand mass was moving, or not moving as far. As a still-in-Method-Book-1 newb and an in-the-fourth-quarter-of-life individual I may not get to the point that any difference could possibly matter, but if it does and unacceptable downsides are absent, then on the chance I might get there, switching now would seem preferable to later! Thoughts?
I watched some videos of PU/E-String anchor players today and they shifted from string to string very quickly; it was pretty impressive and it looked like less arm & hand mass was moving, or not moving as far. As a still-in-Method-Book-1 newb and an in-the-fourth-quarter-of-life individual I may not get to the point that any difference could possibly matter, but if it does and unacceptable downsides are absent, then on the chance I might get there, switching now would seem preferable to later! Thoughts?
My best answer is "TBD".
I stopped playing bass for a lot of years, but got back to it recently. I am using a combination of both studybass.com online lessons, and the Hal Leonard (Ed Friedland) bass books, as I feel they both bring things to the table.
So far, I favor floating thumb technique when playing fingerstyle. It has taken some deliberate effort, because I had some garbage habits left over from when I played years ago. But, it works well and is worth it.
I am also working on pick technique. That's more of a "floating heel of hand" thing, because thumb is of course supporting the pick.
I have not yet consciously tried ring-finger muting - I should.
IME there really is little to nothing in it - the faster one is the one you practice the most. As a floater of >35 years I've never felt the need to anchor to gain more speed.
Coming at this from the upright bass player perspective I'm not sure I understand what the big deal is. Upright players almost always anchor their thumb under the edge of the fingerboard, and then they range across that whole fingerboard, that's something like twice the width of an electric bass fretboard (four string basses here).
How do you mute? I'd rather leave my thumb in one place, seems more natural but I don't know how to mute/prevent ringing strings.
Left hand mostly, like on upright. Sometimes right hand.
this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
I'm sure I didn't pay nearly enough attention to proper string muting when I was playing a lot, over 10 years ago. Fixing that as I re-learn BG today.
in practice, i tend to use a combination of floating thumb and ring-finger muting. The latter when I'm on the D and G strings especially. Mr. Ring Finger normally isn't doing anything productive, so might as well use him.
I'm sure I didn't pay nearly enough attention to proper string muting when I was playing a lot, over 10 years ago. Fixing that as I re-learn BG today.
in practice, i tend to use a combination of floating thumb and ring-finger muting. The latter when I'm on the D and G strings especially. Mr. Ring Finger normally isn't doing anything productive, so might as well use him.